FAMOUS RAID LEADER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16926, 12 August 1918, Page 4

FAMOUS RAID LEADER.

VICTIM OF CHANCE SHELL N.Z. War Correspondent. Aug. 8. To-day Sergeant Richard Charles Travis and an officer who was with him were killed by a stray shell. In Sergeant Travis the New Zealand force loses one of its. bravest soldiers, who made a specialty of raiding, and had earned mora than local fame for his many successful exploits. His methods in raiding were peculiarly his own. He was somewhat of a character, a man of great resource and considerable initiative. He studied thoroughly beforehand his various enterprises, thus eliminating as far as possible the ordinary risks of war by carefully marking down those of the enemy destined for destruction or capture, much as a big game hunter stalks his prey, and notes and puts to his own advantage the configuration of the country and the cover available. Whether raiding by night or in broad daylight Travis was i i variably successful, and he was well backed by other daring Otago men v.-ho accompanied him. It is the irony of fate that after his many dangerous exploits in battle and his raiding in No Man's Land he should fall a victim to a chance «b"il. He had been awarded the D.C.M., Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Military Medal and Bar.